CURRICULUM VITAE
Michael A. Williams
Professor, Comparative Religion Program, Henry M. Jackson School of
International Studies; and the Department of Near Eastern Languages &
Civilization
Box 353650
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
(206) 543-4950
maw@u.washington.edu
EDUCATION:
B.A. 1968 Abilene Christian University, Abilene,
Texas (Religious Studies; summa cum laude)
M.A. 1970 Miami University, Oxford, Ohio (Hellenistic-Roman Religions)
Ph.D. 1977 Harvard
University, Cambridge, Mass. (New
Testament and Christian Origins)
ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT AND UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATIVE
SERVICE:
1976-77 Acting Assistant
Professor, Comparative Religion Program, Jackson School of International
Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
1977-83 Assistant
Professor of Comparative Religion, University of Washington
1983-95 Associate
Professor of Comparative Religion, University of Washington
1995-98 Professor of Comparative Religion,
University of Washington
1998- Professor
of Comparative Religion and Near Eastern Languages & Civilization
Member of Middle East Studies Program, Jackson
School of International Studies
Member of the International
Studies Program, Jackson School of International Studies
Adjunct Professor,
Department of Near East Languages and Civilizations, University of Washington
(1984-98; joint appointment as Professor, 1998- )
Adjunct Professor,
Department of History, University of Washington (1995- )
Chair, Comparative Religion Program, University of
Washington (1985-91)
Chair, College of Arts and
Sciences Curriculum, Practices, and Standards Committee (1997-98)
Chair, Department of Near
East Languages and Civilization, University of Washington (1997-2005)
PUBLICATIONS
1. Books and Editions
Translator and assistant editor of: Martin Dibelius, A Commentary on the Epistle of James
(11th German edition by Heinrich Greeven), ed. Helmut
Koester, Hermeneia Series (Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1975).
Editor,
Charisma and Sacred Biography, Journal of the American Academy of Religion,
Thematic Studies Series, 48:3-4 (Chico, California: Scholars Press, 1982).
`The Immovable
Race': A Gnostic Designation and the Theme of Stability in Late Antiquity, Nag Hammadi Studies 29
(Leiden, Brill: 1985).
Co-editor, with Collett Cox and Martin Jaffee, Innovation in Religious Traditions: Essays
in the Interpretation of Religious Change, Religion and Society (Berlin:
Mouton de Gruyter, 1992)
Rethinking
"Gnosticism": An Argument for Dismantling a Problematic Category (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1996; paperback edition, 1999)
2. Articles
and Chapters
"Realized Eschatology in the Gospel of
Philip," Restoration Quarterly
14 (1971): 1-17.
"Stability as a Soteriological Theme in
Gnosticism," in The Rediscovery of
Gnosticism, ed. Bentley Layton, Vol. 2, Studies in the History of Religions
(Supplements to NUMEN) (Leiden: Brill,
1981), pp. 819-29.
"The Life
of Antony and the Domestication of Charismatic Wisdom," in Charisma and Sacred Biography (see
above), pp. 23-45.
"Uses of Gender Imagery in Ancient Gnostic
Texts," in Gender and Religion: on
the Complexity of Symbols, ed. Caroline Bynum, Stevan
Harrell, and Paula Richman (Boston: Beacon Press, 1986), pp. 196-227.
"The Scribes of the Nag Hammadi Codices,"
preliminary report on research in Egypt, summer 1987, Newsletter of the American Research Center in Egypt 139 (1987):
1-7.
"Variety in Gnostic Perspectives on
Gender," in Images of the Feminine
in Gnosticism, ed. Karen L. King, Studies in Antiquity and Christianity 3
(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988), pp. 2-22.
"Divine Image -- Prison of Flesh: Perspectives
on the Body in Ancient Gnosticism," in Fragments
for a History of the Human Body, ed. Michel Feher, Ramona Naddaff and Nadia Tazi, Zone
3/1 (1989): 129-47.
"Higher Providence, Lower Providences and Fate
in Gnosticism and Middle Platonism," in Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, ed. Richard T. Wallis and Jay Bregman,
Studies in Neoplatonism: Ancient and Modern 6 (New York: SUNY Press, 1992),
483-507.
"Codex Brucianus,"
in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed.
D. N. Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992)
"Religious Innovation: An Introductory
Essay," in Innovation in Religious
Traditions: Essays in the Interpretation of Religious Change, ed. Michael
A. Williams, Collett Cox and Martin S. Jaffee, Religion and Society (Berlin:
Mouton de Gruyter, 1992), 1-17.
"The Demonizing of the Demiurge: The Innovation
of Gnostic Myth," in Innovation in
Religious Traditions: Essays in the Interpretation of Religious Change, ed.
Michael A. Williams, Collett Cox and Martin S. Jaffee, Religion and Society
(Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1992), 73-107.
"The Scribes of the
Nag Hammadi Codices IV, V,
VI, VIII and IX," in Actes du IVe
Congrès Copte, Louvain-la-Neuve, 5-10 Septembre, 1988, vol. 2: De la Linguistique
au Gnosticisme, ed. Marguerite Rassart-Debergh and Luien Ries,
Publications de l'Institut Orientaliste de Louvain 41. Louvain-la-Neuve: Université Catholique de Louvain,
Institut Orientaliste,
1992, 334-42.
"Interpreting the Nag Hammadi
Library as ‘Collection(s)’ in the History of
’Gnosticism(s)’"
in Les textes de Nag Hammadi et le problème de leur classification: Actes du
colloque tenu à Québec du 15 Au-19 Septembre 1993, ed.
Louis Painchaud and Anne Pasquier, Bibliothèque Copte
de Nag Hammadi, Section "Études" (Québec,
Louvain and Paris: Les presses de l’Université Laval
and Éditions Peeters, 1995), pp. 3-50.
"The Harvest of Hellenism and the Category
‘Gnosticism,’" Syllecta Classica 6 (1995): 87-104.
"Gnosticism," in Dictionary of Ethics, Society and Theology, ed. Andrew Linzey and Paul A.Clarke. London: Routledge, 1996.
"Negative Theologies
and Demiurgical Myths in Late Antiquity," 1997 SBL Seminar Papers.
Scholars Press, pp. 20-46.
Response to papers by Karen King, Frederik Wisse, Michael Waldstein and
Sergio La Porta, in The Nag Hammadi
Library After Fifty Years: Proceedings of the 1995 Society of Biblical
Literature Commemoration. Edited by John D. Turner and Anne McGuire. NHMS
44. (Leiden-New York-Koln: Brill, 1997), 208-222.
“Secrecy, Revelation, and Late Antique Demiurgical
Myths,” in Rending the Veil: Concealment
and Secrecy in the History of Religions.
Edited by Elliot R. Wolfson.
(Chappaqua, NY: Seven Bridges Press, 1998), pp. 31-58.
“Negative Theologies and Demiurgical Myths in Late
Antiquity," Pp. 277-302 in Gnosticism
& Later Platonism: Themes, Figures, and Texts. SBL Symposium Series,
12. Ed. Ruth Majercik
and John D. Turner. Atlanta: Scholars
Press, 2000
“Nag Hammadi Codices and Related
Texts,” Pp. 485-490 in Oxford
Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Ed.
Donald B. Redford. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2001.
“Was there a
Gnostic Religion? Strategies for a
Clearer Analysis.” P. 5-29 in Was
There a Gnostic Religion? Ed. Antti Marjanen. Helsinki: Finnish Exegetical Society; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2005.
“Sethianism.” Pp.
32-63 in A Companion to Second-Century Christian "Heretics." Ed.
Antti Marjanen and Petri Luomanen.
Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae
76. (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2005).
"Inside the Covers of Codex VI." Co-authored
with my student Lance Jenott. Pp. 1025-1052 in Coptica,
Gnostica, Manichaica:
Mélanges offerts à Wolf-Peter Funk, edited by
Louis Painchaud and Paul-Hubert Poirier. Québec: Les presses de l'Université Laval, 2006.
Articles on "Gnosticism";
"Nag Hammadi Codices";
"Apocryphon of John," in: Patte, Daniel, ed. The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Primary contributor to: “gnosticism,” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia
Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/236343/Gnosticism>
“Life and
Happiness in the ‘Platonic Underworld,’” Pp. 497-523 in: Gnosticism, Platonism and the Late Ancient World: Essays in Honour of John D. Turner. Edited by Kevin Corrigan and
Tuomas Rasimus, in collaboration with Dylan M. Burns, Lance Jenott and Zeke
Mazur. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 82. (Leiden: Brill, 2013.
“Did Plotinus’s ‘Friends’ Still Go
to Church?: Communal Rituals and Ascent Apocalypses,” Pp. 495-522 in:
Practicing Gnosis: Ritual, Magic,
Theurgy, and Liturgy in Nag Hammadi, Manichaean and Other Late Antique
Literature: Essays in Honor of Birger A. Pearson. Edited by April DeConick,
Gregory Shaw, John Turner, Nag Hammadi and Manichaean
Studies (Leiden: Brill, 2013).
“A Life Full of
Meaning and Purpose: Demiurgical Myths and Social Implications,” Pp. 19-59 in: Beyond the Gnostic Gospels: Studies Building
on the Work of Elaine Pagels. Edited by Eduard Iricinschi,
Lance Jenott, Nicola Denzey Lewis, and Philippa
Townsend. Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013).
"‘Are you, or
have you ever been, a gnostic?’ Caricatures, Blacklists, and Understanding the
Aspirations and Lives of Real People." Forum Third Series 5,1
(2016): 63-80.
"Gnosticism
Emergent: The Beginning of the Study of Gnosticism in the Academy." Pages
3-22 in Religion: Secret Religion. Edited by April D. DeConick.
Farmington Hills, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2016.
"'Wisdom, Our
Innocent Sister': Reflections on a Mytheme." Pages 253-90 in Women and
Knowledge in Early Christianity. Edited by Ulla Tervahauta,
Ivan Miroshnikov, Outi Lehtipuu, and Ismo Dunderberg. Supplements to Vigiliae
Christianae 144. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2017.
Co-authored
article with David Coblentz, “A Reexamination of the Articulation Marks in Nag
Hammadi Codices II and XIII.” Pages 427-456 in The Nag Hammadi Codices and Late
Antique Egypt.
Edited by Hugo Lundhaug and Lance Jenott. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck,
2018.
“On Ancient ‘Gnosticism’ as a Problematic
Category,” in The Gnostic World, ed.
Gunner Mikkelsen, Garry W. Trompf, Jay Johnston
(Routledge, October 2018).
"Irenaeus and
His Opponents on Creator, Creation and the Apostle." In Irenaeus &
Paul, edited by Todd D. Still and David E. Wilhite. Pauline and Patristic
Scholars in Debate (Book 3), 15-54. Edinburgh, UK: T & T Clark, 2020.
"Gnosticism."
In T&T Clark Companion to the Doctrine of Creation, edited by Jason Goroncy. T&T Clark, forthcoming in 2021?
"Gnosticism."
In Cambridge Companion to Christian Heresy, edited by Richard Flower.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming in 2021?
3. Book Reviews
Review of:
James M. Robinson, ed., The Nag
Hammadi Library in English (New York:
Harper & Row, 1977), in Journal of Biblical Literature 97 (1978):
610-12.
Review of: Divine Man or Magician; Celsus and Origen on
Jesus, by Eugene V. Gallagher, Journal
of Biblical Literature 103 (l984): 677f
Review of: The Letter of Peter to Philip: Text, Translation and Commentary, by
Marvin W. Meyer, Journal of Biblical
Literature 103 (1984): 675-77.
Review of: La soteriologia
dei culti orientali nell' Impero Romano: Atti del Colloquio Internazionale
su la Soteriologia dei Culti
orientali nell' Impero Romano, Roma, 24-28 Septembre 1979, ed. Ugo Bianchi and
Maarten J. Vermaseren, Etudes
preliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'empire
romain 92, Journal of the American Academy of Religion 54 (1986):
369f.
Review of: The
Name of God and the Angel of the Lord: Samaritan and Jewish Concepts of
Intermediation and the Origin of Gnosticism, by Jarl E. Fossum,
Journal of Biblical Literature 107
(1988): 153-56.
Review of: Female
Fault and Fulfillment in Gnosticism, by Jorunn
Jacobsen Buckley, Journal of the American
Academy of Religion 56 (1988): 767-70.
Review of: The
Economic and Social Origins of Gnosticism, by Henry Green, Second Century 7 (1989-90): 104-106.
Review of: Against
the Protestant Gnostics, by Philip J. Lee, Christian Scholars Review 19,3 (1990): 317-18.
Review of: A
Separate God: The Christian Origins of Gnosticism, by Simone Pétrement, Critical Review of Books in Religion 5 (1992):
300-303.
Review of: Nag
Hammadi Codex VIII, ed. John H. Sieber, Nag
Hammadi Studies 31, Journal of Biblical
Literature 112 (1993): 546-49.
Review of: From
Christianity to Gnosis and from Gnosis to Christianity, by Jean Magne, for IOUDAIOS
4.010 (May 1994).
Review of: The
Teachings of Sylvanus, by Jan Zandee, for Journal of Biblical Literature 113
(1994): 356-58.
Review of: Savoir
et salut: Traditions juives et tentations dualistes dans le christianisme
ancien, by Gedaliahu Guy Stroumsa, for History of Religions 34 (1994): 97-99.
Review of: Gnosticism
and the New Testament, by Pheme Perkins, for The Journal of Religion 75 (1995):
555-57.
Review of: The
Woman Jesus Loved: Mary Magdalene in the Nag Hammadi Library & Related
Documents, by Antti Marjanen, for the Review of Biblical Literature 1 (1998).
Review of: Jesus
in the Nag Hammadi Writings, by Majella Franzmann,
for The Journal of Religion 78,3
(1998): 431-32.
Review of: Gnosis and Hermeticism
from Antiquity to Modern Times, ed. Roelof van
den Broek and Wouter J. Hanegraaff,
for Church History 68,3 (1999): 675.
Review of: Richard Smith, A
Concise Coptic-English Lexicon, Second edition. SBL Sources for Biblical Study, 35. Atlanta, Scholars Press. For
Review of Biblical Literature.
Review of: Riemer Roukema, Gnosis
and Faith in Early Christianity, for Interpretation
55,1 (2001): 96-98.
Review of Thomas Zöckler, Jesu Lehren im Thomasevangelium, NHMS
series, for Journal of Religion 81,3
(2001): 457-459.
Review of Silke
Petersen, ‘Zerstört die Werke der Weiblichkeit!’:
Maria Magdalena, Salome & andere Jüngerinnen Jesu in christlich-gnostischen
Schriften, NHMS series, for
Journal of
Religion 81,3 (2001): 452-454.
Review of Christoph Markschies, Gnosis: An Introduction, trans. John Bowden. London and New York: T. & T. Clark, 2003. Review of Biblical Literature (online 09/2004)
Review of Einar Thomassen, The Spiritual Seed: The Church of the
"Valentinians," Nag Hammadi
and Manichaean Studies 60 (Leiden/Boston: Brill 2006), for the journal NUMEN
53,3 (2006): 396-401.
Review of Rodolphe Kasser, M. Meyer and G. Wurst, The Gospel of Judas (National Geographic Society, 2006), for the Journal of Early Christian Studies 15,1 (2007): 110-112.
Review of: Buell, Denise K. Why This New Race? Ethnic Reasoning in Early Christianity (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), or the Journal of Religion 87,2 (2007): 271-272.
Review of: Logan, Alastair H. B. The
Gnostics: Identifying an Early Christian Cult, Forward by the Archbishop
Rowan Williams. London and New York: T & T Clark, 2006. For Theology 111 (2008): 122-123.
Review of
Karen King, The Secret Revelation of John, for the Journal of the American Academy of Religion 76 (2008): 243-246.
Review of David Brakke, The Gnostics: Myth, Ritual,
and Diversity in Early Christianity (Harvard U. Press, 2010), for the Journal of Early Christian Studies 19,3 (2011): 479-80.
Review of Nicola Denzey Lewis, Introduction
to "Gnosticism": Ancient Voices, Christian Worlds. Oxford and New
York: Oxford University Press, 2013. For the journal Church History and Religious Culture 94 (2014): 77-80.
Review of Lundhaug, Hugo and Lance Jenott. The Monastic Origins of
the Nag Hammadi Codices. Studien und Texte zu Antike
und Christentum/Studies and Texts in Antiquity and
Christianity 97. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015. Journal of Theological Studies 67.2 (2016):
801-803.
Review of April D. DeConick, The Gnostic New Age: How a
Countercultural Spirituality Revolutionized Religion from Antiquity to Today (New
York: Columbia University Press. 2016). The Catholic Historical Review
103 (2017): 25-27.
PAPERS AND INVITED LECTURES:
"Stability as a Soteriological Theme in
Gnosticism," International Conference on Gnosticism, Yale University, New
Haven, Conn., March 28-3l, l978
"`Let Him who thinks he stands. . . '(l Cor 10:12): A Technical term from
Hellenistic-Jewish Wisdom?"
Northwest regional meeting, American Academy of Religion/Society of
Biblical Literature, Portland, Oregon, April 20-22, l978.
"Asceticism in the Nag Hammadi Codices,"
Annual meeting, American Research Center in Egypt, San Francisco, California,
April 13-l5, 1980.
"Gnostic Asceticism and the Early
Church,". Northwest regional meeting, American Academy of Religion/Society
of Biblical Literature, Spokane, Wash., April 17-19, 1980.
"Critique of Martin Hengel,
Acts and the History of Early
Christianity,"
Northwest regional meeting, AAR/SBL, San Francisco, December
19-22, 1981.
"Conversion to Chosen Races in Gnostic Literature,"
paper for section on "Conversion in Greco-Roman Antiquity," national
meetings, AAR/SBL, San Francisco, December 19-22, 1981.
"The Immovable Race: Variations on a Gnostic Theologumenon,"
paper for Nag Hammadi section, AAR/SBL, New York, December 19-22, 1982.
"Higher Providence, Lower Providences and Fate
in Gnosticism and Middle Platonism," for the International Conference on
Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, Sixth Annual Conference on the International
Society for Neoplatonic Studies, March 18-2l, 1984, University of Oklahoma.
"Providence, Fate and Free Will in the Apocryphon of John," annual
meetings, AAR/SBL, Chicago, December 8-12, 1984.
"Variety in Gnostic Perspectives on
Gender," for Research Conference on Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism,
sponsored by Department of Religious Studies at Occidental College, the
Institute for Antiquity and Christianity at the Claremont Graduate School, and
the Society of Biblical Literature; Claremont and Anaheim, CA, November 19-26,
1985.
"Our Bodies, Our Cells and Our Selves: Gnostic
and Hellenistic-Roman Perceptions of the Body," Pacific Northwest AAR-SBL,
Spokane, April 14-16, 1988.
"The Scribes of Nag Hammadi Codices IV, V, VI,
VIII and IX," 4th International Congress of Coptic Studies, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, September 5-10, 1988.
"Gnostic Kinship Imagery and Social
Reality," Social History of Early Christianity Group, AAR/SBL, Chicago,
November 19-22, 1988.
"Religious Innovation and Gnostic
Origins," Pacific Northwest AAR-SBL, Portland, May 3-5, 1990.
"Gnosticism as Religious Innovation," XVIth Congress of the International Association of the
History of Religions, Rome, September 3-8, 1990
"Psychê's Voice:
Gnostic Perceptions of Body and Soul," joint session of SBL Nag Hammadi
Section and AAR Platonism and Neoplatonism Group, National meetings of AAR/SBL,
Kansas City, November 23-26, 1991
"Freedom by Abuse or Freedom by Non-use =
Gnostic Ethics?" Female and Male in Gnosticism Group, AAR/SBL, San
Francisco, November 21-24, 1992.
"Interpreting the Nag Hammadi Library as ‘Collection(s)’ in the
History of ’Gnosticism(s)’" Invited contribution for conference on
"Les textes de Nag Hammadi et le problème de leur
classification," Université Laval, Québec,
September, 1993.
"Should We Replace Gnosticism as a Category?" second session
of Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism Section, AAR/SBL, Washington, November 20-23,
1993.
"Breaking Off the Front End: Do Doctrines About Demiurges Denote
Dropouts?" Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism Section, AAR/SBL, Chicago, November
18-22, 1994.
"Doing without `Gnosticism' as a Category" New Testament and
Hellenistic Religions Section, Pacific Northwest AAR-SBL, Great Falls, MT, May 2-4, 1996.
"Secrecy, Revelation, and Late Antique Demiurgical Myths.” Paper for conference on "Rending the
Veil: Concealment and Revelation of Secrets in the History of Religions"
New York University, April 6-7, 1997.
"Misreading Other Peoples' Myths: How Wrong Have We been About
'Gnosticism'?" Lecture at Reed
College, April 16, 1997.
"Negative Theologies and Demiurgical Myths in Late
Antiquity." Paper for the Gnosticism and Later Platonism Seminar, AAR/SBL,
San Francisco, November 22-25, 1997.
(Published in the 1997 SBL Seminar
Papers volume.)
“Codices and the Canonizing Process:
Two Case Studies from Ancient Christianity.” Lecture at the Divinity School, University of
Chicago, March 4, 1998.
“Stories and Secrets, Books and Canons in Ancient Christianity.” Presidential Address, Pacific Northwest Regional meetings of the AAR/SBL, May 8-10, 1998.
“Was There a Gnostic Religion? Strategies for a Clearer Analysis.” International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Helsinki, Finland and St. Petersburg, Russia. July 17-25, 1999.
“Pillars of Utopia: Jerusalem in Early Christian History and Imagination.” November 17, 1999. Lecture in series on Jerusalem in Western Religious Traditions, October 1999- February 2000. Celebrating 25th anniversary of the Comparative Religion Program, University of Washington.
“Design in Codex Composition: The Case of Bodmer P72.” Paper for Consultation on Papyrology and Early Christian Studies, AAR/SBL, Boston, November 20-23, 1999.
“Living with Lesser Gods: Heterodox Cosmological Myths and Social Implications in late Antiquity.” Plenary address at May 27-29, 2004 annual meeting of the North American Patristics Society, Chicago, IL.
“Could Manichaeans Be Happy? Cosmology and the Appreciation of Daily Life in Manichaean Communities.” Invited lecture at Princeton University, October 15, 2009
“Gnosticism in Greco-Roman Egypt"; one of three featured lecturers in an intensive summer program presented by the Spiritual Life Institute (SLI), St. Martin’s University, Lacey, Washington, June 24-28, 2013.
One of the featured speakers at Westar Institute Seminar on November 21, 2014, at the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature in San Diego, Nov. 21-25, 2014.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY:
Editorial Board, Journal of
Biblical Literature, 1990-1995.
International Advisory Board member, Catholic University of America Studies
in Early Christianity series. 2004-
Chair, Consultation on "Charisma and Sacred
Biography," National meetings of AAR/SBL, San Francisco, December 19-22,
1981.
Chair, New Testament Section, Pacific Northwest
annual regional meetings of the AAR/SBL. 1981-83.
Chair, Nag Hammadi Section, SBL (national), 1990-92.
Steering Committee, Social History of Formative
Judaism and Christianity Section, SBL, 1983-91.
Steering Committee, Female and Male in Gnosticism
Group, SBL, 1985-92.
Steering Committee, Nag Hammadi Section, SBL,
1986-1997.
Steering Committee, Seminar on Gnosticism and Later
Platonism, SBL, 1993-1998.
Executive Committee and Nominating Committee, Pacific Northwest
Regional AAR/SBL, 1998-99.
Presiding, panel on "Life Story and
Anecdote: Uses of Narrative in Sacred
Biography," Comparative Studies in Religion section, national meetings of
AAR/SBL, New York, December 19-22, 1982.
Panel, Consultation on Sacred Biography, annual meetings,
AAR/SBL, Dallas, December 19-22, 1983.
Panel, Female and Male in Gnosticism Group (topic:
"Myth and Marriage in the Gospel of
Philip"), AAR-SBL, Chicago, November 19-22, 1988.
Presiding and panel participant, Gnosticism and
Platonism, Nag Hammadi Section, National meetings of AAR/SBL, Anaheim, November
1989
Respondent, joint session of Nag Hammadi Section and
Social History of Early Christianity Group, AAR/SBL, Atlanta, November 22-25,
1986.
Respondent, Nag Hammadi Section, AAR/SBL, November 22-25, 1996, New Orleans.
Respondent to papers in section on “Challenges to
Orthodoxy in the Patristic Age," American Catholic Historical Association,
annual meetings, Seattle, WA, January 9-11, 1998.
Respondent to papers by Marvin Meyer, Nicole Denzey and Catherine Burris in the symposium Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient
& Late Antique World. University
of Washington, Seattle, March 3-5, 2000.
Respondent on panel for Early Jewish and Christian
Mysticism Group, AAR/SBL, November 23-26, 2002, Toronto.
Respondent to five papers in session on “Gnosticism
and Platonism,” at annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature,
November 21-25, 2008, Boston.
Critique of: Rasimus, Tuomas. Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking: Rethinking Sethianism in Light of the Ophite Evidence. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 68. Leiden: Brill, 2009; at the 2014 annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature/American Academy of Religion, November 2014, San Diego, CA.
Panel member, Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, 2019, San Diego, CA; discussing Gardner, Iain, Jason D. Beduhn, and Paul Dilley, eds. The Chapters of the Wisdom of My Lord Mani, Part III: Pages 343-442 (Chapters 321-347), Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, vol. 92. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2018.
Presiding, Nag Hammadi Section, National meetings of
AAR/SBL, Boston, December 5-8, 1987
Presiding, joint session of SBL Nag Hammadi Section
and AAR Platonism and Neoplatonism Group, National meetings of AAR/SBL, New
Orleans, November 1990
Presiding, session of the Social History of Formative Judaism and
Christianity Section, National meetings of AAR/SBL, Kansas City, November
23-26, 1991
Presiding, session of Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism Section, AAR/SBL,
Washington, November 20-23, 1993.
Presiding and respondent for panel of authors of
books on the Gospel of Judas,
AAR/SBL, November 17-20, 2007, San Diego.
GRANTS, AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS, HONORS:
1966-68 National
Merit Scholarships, Abilene Christian University
1968-69 Graduate
Assistantship, Miami University
1971-74 Harvard
University Scholarship
1974-75 Arthur
Darby Nock Teaching Fellowship, Harvard
1979 Summer
research grant, Graduate School Research Fund, University of Washington
1987 Fellowship, American Research Center
in Egypt, June-August
1988 Travel
grant to Coptic Conference, Louvain-la-Neuve,
Belgium, Graduate School Research Fund, University of Washington
1990 ACLS
travel grant to XVIth Congress of the International
Association of the History of Religions, Rome, September 3-8, 1990
1990- Golden
Key National Honor Society, honorary member
1990-91 College
of Arts and Sciences Liberal Arts Professor for 1990-91 (distinguished teaching
award), University of Washington
1991 Professeur-Chercheur Invité,
Projet Nag Hammadi, l'Université Laval, Québec, (September-October, 1991)
1992 Eliot
Lecture in Religion, Reed College (March 23, 1992)
1992 Summer
research grant, Graduate School Research Fund, University of Washington
1996-97 Vice
President/President-Elect, Pacific Northwest Regional of the American Academy
of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature
1997-98 President,
Pacific Northwest Regional of the American Academy of Religion/Society of
Biblical Literature
2000-2001 Senior
Scholar, Walter Simpson Humanities Center, Society of Scholars, University of
Washington
2003-2005 Principal
Investigator, Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs,
Educational Partnerships Grant ($1 M; 3 years) on “Cultural and Comparative
Religious Studies”; University of Washington partnership with five institutions
of higher education in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
MEMBERSHIPS: